IPv6 Load Balancing

KEMP LoadMaster Load Balancers are IPv6 Ready

June 6, 2012 was international IPv6 day and this event was significant as it is recognition of the need for companies and organizations worldwide to have a plan prepared to handle the necessary adoption of IPv6. The need for an effective IPv6 transition policy is essential, however it is recognized that many IT departments are really struggling to create a working strategy that reduces the risk of disruption during the migration strategy. The good news is that KEMP Technologies have already raised the flag to confirm all is ready to support a combination of IPv4 and IPv6 protocols with KEMP LoadMaster load balancers.

Why not just stick with Universal Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4)

There are 2 overwhelming reasons why this is not an option. First, the Quantity of IPv4 addresses is rapidly reaching saturation point. Second, new IP devices, everything from smartphones, home entertainment systems and automobile navigation systems use the IPv6 protocol, thus the systems accessed by those devices must also support IPv6. The IPv6 protocol offers a vastly enlarged address space over IPv4, greater reliability and security features. So there really is no choice, businesses have to make absolutely sure that their resources are available to users and M2M applications via IPv6 or they run the risk of cutting off their internal and external users from the applications they need access to.

“We understand that up to 50% performance loss has been noted on internal testing by some vendors” Steve Broadhead, founder of Broadband Technologies Meeting the Challenge of Migration

The challenge is to allow for a smooth migration rather than a headlong stampede caused by suitable load balancers arriving too late. It certainly seems that KEMP Technologies have understood the need, addressed it and are already have a fully operational solution. Let’s see what Steven Broadhead, founder of Broadband Technologies founder and director has to say;

“By providing support for IPv6, KEMP Technologies has clearly understood the great potential IPv6 performance issues and potential problems so it has designed its new firmware in a way that both eliminated the chance of performance gaps, but has been targeted to optimize the kernel-level networking layer.”

Well so far so good from the head of the well regarded Broadband Testing unit, an independent test lab facility, but there was more information coming from the Spirent Test center that generates a mix of IPv4 and IPv6 web traffic to fully stress-test load balancers.

What other advantages were noted in the test lab with KEMP Technology LoadMasters?

The ability of the KEMP LoadMasters to handle complex Layer 7 operations when handling IPv6 traffic without breaking sweat. Vital for a smooth IPv4 to IPv6 migration.

With 3.4 Gbps of layer 4 traffic and 2.9 Gbps of Layer 7 throughput spread over 8 Gigabit Ethernet ports and a pummelling 5,000 SSL transactions per second the Kemp LoadMasters were more than up to the job.

Conclusion - KEMP Ready for IPv6 Load Balancing

If you are responsible for your organization’s mandatory migration to implement load balancers that support IPv6 traffic, this article should allow you to breathe a little easier. KEMP Technologies and the LoadMaster products are well known for their load balancing optimization, SSL processing power and high availability capabilities. Effective compression, highly efficient caching and compression capabilities are also a key set of characteristics of the KEMP LoadMaster product range. KEMP LoadMasters do not require the IT department to understand new skills and tricks when handling IPv6 traffic mixed with IPv4 traffic, they do what they should do, deal with the different payloads seamlessly and effectively.

This means that as you plan your IPv4 to IPv6 transition you can turn to KEMP Technologies load balancers with the peace of mind that they are more than up to the job.